In 1977, we poured vodka, triple sec, and rum over a bowl of fresh strawberries and called it Strawberries Romanoff. It was a new world, an uncharted path lined with plump red fruit. We piled those booze-drenched strawberries around a heart-shaped "velvety molded cream dessert" called Russian Cream. We lived like czars, our tables bedecked in orchids, our pink wine glasses always a solid quarter full. What a life it was.

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If you’re looking to make the case that America’s eating habits have changed dramatically over the last two decades, let us present as evidence the Valentine’s Day–themed recipes that graced Bon Appétit‘s February covers from 1977 to 1990. Month after month, year after year, the editors came back to a single theme: Put a strawberry on it.

In 1977, we poured vodka, triple sec, and rum over a bowl of fresh strawberries and called it Strawberries Romanoff. It was a new world, an uncharted path lined with plump red fruit. We piled those booze-drenched strawberries around a heart-shaped "velvety molded cream dessert" called Russian Cream. We lived like czars, our tables bedecked in orchids, our pink wine glasses always a solid quarter full. What a life it was.